Rabbit Tarot - tarot decks

Price: US $16.62

ProductID: alt0587

The Rabbit Tarot is one for the animal lovers! It has rabbits appearing instead of humans on the cards, but still manages

to retain workable tarot symbolism. It's a full 78 card deck, and would be suited for children, the young at heart, or

readers with anxious querents.

Specifications

Name

Rabbit Tarot

Creators

Nakisha VanderHoeven

Publisher

Self Published 2009

Deck Type

Tarot Deck

Cards

78

Major Arcana

22

Minor Arcana

56

Strength

is 8

Justice

is 11

Reviews

The deck arrived quite quickly, after the order was placed on Etsy. It arrived in a small manila mailing envelope. Tearing into the package, discovering a small silver organza drawstring bag, with the sealed deck inside, along with the other goodies that the artist included, was a real treat.

First thoughts were, “Oh, isn’t this cute!” Upon closer inspection, the more intriguing this little body of work becomes.

The self-published, watercolor artwork itself is very whimsical and has the feel of Beatrix Potter meets Watership Down meets Tarot. This, however, is not a fluffy-bunny little deck. Nor is it just another Rider-Waite-Smith clone that fills a niche in the market.

The un-numbered Major Arcana are depicted very closely to the RWS and are easy to interpret. Nakisha took a different and delightful direction with the Minor Arcana. The suits of the Minors mirror what a rabbit might encounter in the natural world; Carrots = Swords, Sticks = Wands, Tulips = Cups and Daisies = Coins. The King and Queen of each suit each has a small blue globe somewhere in the image, the Knights are all riding goats and the Pages either carry a flag or a shield.

One who is well versed in the RWS and the progression of the Minors, might feel a bit awkward, at first, with the order and some of the interpretations given. With a little use and studying of the deck, can be overcome quite quickly and would be well worth the effort.

For example:

The image of the 4 of Sticks, is the little white rabbit, against a lush green background, there is one stick coming out of the ground on either side of the rabbit, one on the ground in front of the rabbit, and the rabbit is holding a forked stick in his paw, up in front of it’s face, almost as if the rabbit is trying to hide behind the stick.

Nakisha’s keywords: refuge, safety.

The image for the 9 of Sticks, is a black and white Dutch rabbit, walking on his hind legs, carrying 9 sticks on his back. The sun seems to be high in the sky and there are foothills in the back ground.

Nakisha’s key words for the 9 of Sticks are: hard work, difficulty.

The image for the 2 of Tulips, is again the black and white Dutch rabbit, walking on his hind legs, in each of his front paws he holds a pink tulip, the rabbit‘s left paw is down and the tulip is pointing towards the ground, almost looking as if it is beginning to wilt. The other paw is raised and held close to the rabbits body, and the tulip is pointing upright. The rabbit is looking back over his shoulder and his ears are laying back, but not completely flat against his body.

Nakisha’s keywords for the 2 of Tulips are: jealousy, anxiety.

There is much expression of feeling shown in each image. From shy, reserved, melancholy, to joy, and triumph.

The deck itself is playing/poker sized measuring 3 ½ inches tall by 2 ½ inches wide. It was printed by a professional playing card company printer. It is the same stock and weight as deluxe poker playing cards. The borders are fairly wide and done in black and white, giving the illusion of a matted frame. There has been recent discussion about the third printing coming out without the borders, leaving more room for the artwork. The card backs are reversible friendly and feature both the black and white Dutch rabbit and the White rabbit along with representations of each of the suits.

The Little White Book is a 4 ½ by 5 ½ inch piece of paper, folded into quarters. It features a copy of the Star card, basic descriptions and reversed descriptions for each of the Major Arcana and keywords for each of the Minor Arcana.

There is a companion book that is available to purchase directly from the printer, a link can be found at at akisha's website.

The Rabbit Tarot will make a wonderful gift for anyone who has an interest in rabbits and Tarot. Recommended for the beginning reader to the professional and for all ages.